Harvard University’s decision to retain President Claudine Gay has drawn sharp criticism from GOP House Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, who labeled it a “moral failure.” The controversy surrounding Gay’s position at Harvard was ignited by her responses during a congressional hearing last week, where she and Stefanik clashed over the university’s stance on anti-Semitism.

During the hearing, Stefanik repeatedly questioned Gay on whether calling for the genocide of the Jewish people violated Harvard’s code of conduct. Gay’s response, emphasizing Harvard’s “commitment to free expression” drew a bipartisan backlash, especially given the university’s low ranking in a non-partisan group’s assessment of free expression policies and practices at universities. The hearing’s aftermath saw widespread demands for Gay’s removal, further intensified by allegations of plagiarism in her academic work, including her dissertation.

In contrast to the resignation of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill over the weekend, who faced similar condemnation for her responses at the same hearing, Harvard announced on Tuesday morning its continued support for President Gay. The statement declared that Gay is “the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing.” It also noted that an “independent review” found no violation of Harvard’s standards for research misconduct on Gay’s part, despite acknowledging “a few instances of inadequate citation.”

Stefanik was furious at Harvard’s decision.

“This is a moral failure of Harvard’s leadership and higher education leadership at the highest levels,” Stefanik said at a press conference. “And the only change they have made to their code of conduct, where they failed to condemn calls for genocide of the Jewish people, the only update to the code of conduct is to allow a plagiarist as the president of Harvard.”

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